Following someone home will get you killed

Copied from another forum

BOGART - An Oconee County man shot and killed a motorcyclist who followed his daughters home from an Athens department store Monday night, according to police.

Richard Harold "Ricky" Gear, 45, claimed he acted in self-defense when he shot Bryan Joseph "B.J." Mough about 6:45 p.m. as the 21-year-old Winder man drove his motorcycle past Gear's house on the western edge of Bogart, Oconee County Sheriff Scott Berry said.

The daughters, ages 17 and 19, had called their father on a cell phone to tell him they were being followed, Berry said, and as they arrived home, Gear was waiting at the end of his driveway with a pistol, Berry said.

Mough drove past the house, turned around and made another pass, and Gear fired the .40-caliber semiautomatic gun two or three times, shooting Mough once in the back, the sheriff said.

Gear called 911 after the shooting, as did neighbors, and sheriff's deputies arrested Gear at his home on a murder charge, Berry said.

"He made an unspecified claim of self-defense," Berry said.

An ambulance took Mough to Athens Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 7:45 p.m., Berry said.

Oconee sheriff's investigators spent all day Tuesday trying to detail the events that led to the shooting.

Gear's daughters and Mough, whose name is pronounced mau, apparently left the parking lot of Target, 3065 Atlanta Highway, about the same time Monday night, Berry said. Tempers flared as the drivers headed west toward Bogart.

Gear's daughters told investigators that Mough cut them off, they made obscene hand gestures at him and Mough ran into their car after they crossed the Oconee County line, the sheriff said.

"There is evidence of a collision between Mough's motorcycle and the vehicle operated by Gear's daughters," Berry said, adding authorities don't yet know who initiated contact.

"We've got questions about how it happened," he said.

Investigators canvassed Target for witnesses and viewed surveillance videos but found nothing to indicate Mough met the girls inside the store or in the parking lot, the sheriff said.

Authorities could add more charges, Berry said, but aren't rushed because Gear can't bond out of jail on a murder charge.

"We're having discussions with the district attorney, and there are a lot of leads to follow up on," the sheriff said. "We're going to do the investigation our way and at our speed."

Many who live in the tight-knit neighborhood near the corner of Gear Road and Osceola Avenue are related, and they did not want to discuss the murder allegation Tuesday afternoon. Some neighbors said the Gear family has lived in Bogart for generations and is well respected.

"Rick's parents are great friends of ours, and if you knocked on every door from here to the end of Bogart, everyone will tell you that they're the most wonderful people," Woodie Prince said.

Prince's husband, David Prince, said he didn't know Richard Gear as well, but knows him well enough to know that "Ricky is a wonderful father to those girls."

"It's horrible what happened to that boy, and everybody in Bogart is feeling and praying for (Mough) and his family," David Prince said. "We're all praying for Ricky, too, and knowing him the way I know him, he'll blame himself the rest of his life for what happened."

Mough, who lived in the Lincoln Park subdivision north of Winder, had been employed at a Target in Buford, according to Brittany Williams, Mough's former girlfriend. He was hoping to transfer to the Athens Target and went to the store for an interview Monday, she said.

Mough, who also worked as a freelancer with Turner Broadcasting in Atlanta, was excited about buying his first motorcycle last month, Williams said.

"B.J. was really a good kid," said Williams, who dated Mough for two years. "All day yesterday I was dying to call him. Now it's too late."

Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on 022708

I guess they ain't got 9-1-1 in Georgia. I s'pose yew orta call yer daddy but not bother to call the cops on yer cell phone and tell them yew er bein follered soes the poe-licemens kin dew sum 'vestigational stuff. Uh coarse, ther mite bee sum trubble iffin yew wuz causin tuh trubble wit the boy en thuh furst playce, lyke maybe cuts him off. But daddy, welll he'll believe yer story en rescue yuh. That'll teech them murdercylers tuh mess with his gurls yung laidies.

Doh!

Sad story for sure, I'm sure there is more to the story? Too bad the biker isn't here to tell his side.

JW

I think it was in the "movie quotes" thread that I read: "There are two things that smell like fish. Fish is one of them."

I think we have just found the other one.

Both parties were stupid, no matter how this turns out. One is dead and the other is going away for a very long time.

Sorta like road rage but what do you call this? "House rage?" I'm guessing any threat to the girls had expired once they were safely home. There was no reason for their ole pappy to be acting in defense of them with a firearm at that point, especially since that motorcyclist was riding away from the house. Throw the book at him. :nono: Agreed there is likely more to the story, but at face value from what was posted, daddy is goin' away for awhile.

FJR_pig said:

Sorta like road rage but what do you call this? "House rage?" I'm guessing any threat to the girls had expired once they were safely home. There was no reason for their ole pappy to be acting in defense of them with a firearm at that point, especially since that motorcyclist was riding away from the house. Throw the book at him. :nono: Agreed there is likely more to the story, but at face value from what was posted, daddy is goin' away for awhile.

Click to expand...

I agree he'll be charged with murder, but think it more than likely he'll go away for manslaughter -- "heat of passion"1 or "imperfect self defense"2 theories seem probable to abrogate the "malice aforethought" necessary to a murder conviction. In other words, it's likely going to be hard to prove the mental state necessary for murder to a jury without some specific evidence I'm not reading there (esp. considering that most folks are going to identify with a father trying to protect his daughters from someone they reported was following or threatening them, and may even have contacted their car of his own volition).

Was he wrong? Absolutely. But I think most men will be less reasonable protecting a woman, especially a daughter, than they might be when faced with the same threat themselves, and most jurors will understand that. His reaction may have been unreasonable, but I don't think it's murder. OTOH, I don't know what that state's specific laws on the subject might be.

Note also that the dead dumb ass who followed the girls home apparently WAS engaged in a road rage incident, and following them all the way home was probably akin to bullying. He may not have deserved to get shot, but that kinda thing isn't too far from Darwin award territory, with an attitude.

1 Acting in the "heat of passion" (e.g., becoming enraged upon coming home to find wife banging lover in your bed and immediately shooting lover) has been a defense to murder since the law developed in England. (But wait 2 days before killing the guy banging your wife, and you almost certainly have murder.) The idea is that it negates the conscious intent to kill necessary to a murder conviction. Often referred to as diminished capacity or temporary insanity, it's not a complete defense, but reduces the charge from murder to manslaughter. They are both felonies with prison time, BTW.

2 In this case, it would be imperfect "defense of others". Immediate family members qualify as objects of protection the same way one's self does. "Imperfect" means that it might be proven to the jury's satisfaction that he subjectively believed his daughters were in imminent danger of harm (putting aside the difference between ordinary and lethal defense of self/others for a moment), but that his actions were not objectively reasonable (motorcyclist was leaving, no imminence of harm, etc.). In that case, dad doesn't have the right to defense of self/others as a complete defense to the charges, but it does go to his mental state (mens rea), which is relevant to the severity of the charge -- murder or manslaughter.

Thanks for posting that, Fence. It's a good incentive for turning the other cheek.

Agree with Exskibum. Throw in a little "Good ol' boy" justice, and the dude will probably walk. Though I don't see how anyone could claim self-defense, as certainly no lives were in danger--'cept the dead kid's.

For me this is just more evidence of this life-saving advice--Whenever you feel the grip of road rage start to overwhelm you, DISENGAGE! Remember the adage, "Those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make angry."

FJRFencer said:

<major snippage>Gear's daughters told investigators that Mough cut them off, they made obscene hand gestures at him and Mough ran into their car after they crossed the Oconee County line, the sheriff said.

"There is evidence of a collision between Mough's motorcycle and the vehicle operated by Gear's daughters," Berry said, adding authorities don't yet know who initiated contact.

"We've got questions about how it happened," he said.

Investigators canvassed Target for witnesses and viewed surveillance videos but found nothing to indicate Mough met the girls inside the store or in the parking lot, the sheriff said.

<snippage>

Click to expand...

Hmmmmm.....

A different scenario...

They cut him off and actually hit him on his motorcycle. He tried to get them to pull over and they flipped him off. He then cut them off to get them to pull over. They called dear old daddy and headed for home. When the young man saw "pops" with a pistol he did a U-turn and unsuccessfully tried to leave.

"We're having discussions with the district attorney, and there are a lot of leads to follow up on," the sheriff said. "We're going to do the investigation our way and at our speed."
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on 022708

Click to expand...

Just to provide an alternative theory. And all opinions are theories at this point in time. YMMV.

madmike2 said:

Just to provide an alternative theory. And all opinions are theories at this point in time.

Click to expand...

Yep, . . . AND we're getting our "facts" for those theories from a newspaper.

Still, whatever may have happened between daughters and motorcyclist, it's going to be what the jury believes was in dad's mind that is going to be relevant to his defense -- even if what put that in his mind was his daughters blowing smoke up his ass.**

** I'll again note the stupidity of following someone home even on your plausible variation of the facts, Mike. Just get the license number and call the cops, for God's sake!

Shot in the back.... self defense...... it would take some serious "Good ol boy" justice to connect those dots....... IMHO

It would be interesting to see if any unbiased witnesses to the “Initial Contact” can shed some light on what really happened…..

Either way two lives ruined by a series of poor choices on both of their accounts.

Anger is never without a reason, but seldom with a good one. Benjamin Franklin

Update.... Daddy's done this before

https://onlineathens.com/stories/0228...22800152.shtml

Sheriff: Man allegedly shot at teens in 2006

Oconee sheriff re-examines claims after Bogart slaying

By Joe Johnson | [email protected] | Story updated at 12:09 AM on Thursday, February 28, 2008

Oconee County investigators are taking a fresh look at 2-year-old allegations a Bogart man fired a gun at a group of teens, after he shot and killed a motorcyclist in front of his house this week.

Authorities didn't charge Richard "Ricky" Harold Gear at the time because they couldn't prove he fired a gun, and witnesses were "less than truthful" about what happened, Oconee County Sheriff Scott Berry said Wednesday.

The sheriff's office will reinvestigate that shooting in light of Gear's claim that he acted in self-defense when he shot 21-year-old Bryan Andrew "B.J." Mough on Monday after Mough argued with Gear's daughters in traffic and followed them home.

After deputies charged Gear with murder, residents called the sheriff's office to report other times Gear may have drawn a gun, Berry said.

"This case, like most cases, generates a lot of comments from the public," the sheriff said. "We're still working hard on it, and we're going to follow all leads to their logical conclusion."

Gear's daughters, 17 and 19, called their father Monday night to tell him that someone was following them; when they arrived home, Gear was waiting at the end of the driveway with a .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol, Berry said.

Mough drove by the house, turned around, and Gear shot two or three times as the motorcycle made a second pass, according to Berry.

Mough was shot once in the back, the sheriff said.

MULTIMEDIA

PDF: See a copy of a police report filed following the alleged shooting in 2006. (Note: Witness names and narrative were redacted by the Oconee County Sheriff's Office):

View document (148k)

But Gear may have shot at people outside his house before, in 2006, according to Berry.

"Deputies responded to the incident (in 2006), but they could not substantiate that shots were fired at anyone or if any shots were fired at all," the sheriff said.

Gear denied he fired a gun, Berry said.

Investigators are tracking down witnesses to the earlier shooting, according to Berry, who said he wasn't sure whether proving Gear had fired a gun two years ago would impact the murder investigation.

"We're revisiting (Gear's) whole past history," Berry said. "That's our responsibility and obligation. (Mough's death) encouraged us to go back and interview people who may have had contact with the suspect in this case."

Berry wouldn't say more, and a deputy's report gave vague details.

Gear, who turned 46 Wednesday, called the sheriff's office the night of Feb. 25, 2006, to complain that trespassers were on his property at 155 Gear Road. The trespassers backed over a mailbox when Gear told them to leave, according to the report.

A deputy found the car nearby in Bogart, and one of the people inside said they left when someone shot at them, according to the report.

The deputy barred the teens from Gear's property, according to the report, and one of the teens promised to replace the damaged mailbox and post.

But the mother of one of the teens who lives nearby said she called the sheriff's office to report she heard gunshots and that her daughter and friends said Gear shot at them.

The woman, who asked not to be identified, said five teens were arguing outside the Gear home when Gear came out with a gun.

"They were saying, 'Oh my God, oh my God, he shot at us,'" the woman said.

She told a deputy what had happened, but the deputy didn't take a statement because the information was secondhand.

An Oconee sheriff's investigator told the woman Thursday that he needed to interview her daughter about the 2006 shooting, the woman said.

Authorities charged Gear with murder Monday and did not find evidence he acted in self-defense, Berry said.

"The physical evidence we recovered from the scene and elsewhere doesn't reflect that Mough was the primary aggressor," Berry said. "There is no evidence he tried to hit Gear, and his motorcycle never went on Gear's property."

Investigators still don't know exactly what happened in the minutes leading up to Mough's death.

Gear's daughters and Mough apparently left the parking lot of Target, 3065 Atlanta Highway, about the same time Monday night, Berry said.

Tempers flared as they drove west toward Bogart.

Gear's daughters told investigators they made obscene gestures when Mough cut them off, and that Mough intentionally ran into their car after they crossed the Oconee County line. They called their father to say someone was following them, the sheriff said.

The motorcycle apparently did collide with the driver's side of the Gear sisters' car, Berry said, but investigators don't know which vehicle caused that contact.

Mough, who lived in the Lincoln Park subdivision north of Winder, worked at a Target store in Buford, according to a former girlfriend. He was hoping to transfer to the Athens Target and went to the store for an interview Monday, Brittany Williams said.

Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on 022808

Memorial ride being planned

That fish smell just got a lot stronger.

Yep, this is really starting to stink up the place.

I'm gonna have to go with MM2's theory on this for now. It just fits a scenario we've all seen too many times.

This little habit of Gear's shooting at kids has got to land him some serious jail time. Shot in the back, where was the danger? Let me see here....If the paper print is even accurate, a kid gets in rage with Gear's girls, contact is made with the vehicles, Kid on bike cruises past house twice on public property, and dad shoots kid in back as he passes by. Self defense? If the gear kids all ran into the house nothing would have happened. They even could have called the Poe-lease. Nope, some sort of strange cowboy justice by trigger happy Gear.

Yep rather smelly. Lets hope he doesn't get away with murder.

FJRBluesman said:

Yep rather smelly. Lets hope he doesn't get away with murder.

Click to expand...

No doubt lotsa facts we don't know, but I'm betting on a manslaughter conviction and something like 5 - 10 years -- using a gun usually means sentencing enhancements, which is why I think it might have that higher limit. Just guessing without knoowing that state's sentencing guidelines, but I'm sure not reading facts that make it justifiable self defense or defense of his daughters in those reports.

Wonder what the police will come up with when they look at the girls' phone records. 17 and 19 years old - what are the chances that one, or both, were doing something with the phone - either talking or texting? Distracted driver? We don't see that too often, do we?

Something similar happened here. Ex-marine who served in Iraq, found someone trying to steal his truck, he shot him and killed him. The marine was found guilty of murder in this case. The rest of the story you ask? The marine chased him 4 blocks and shot him in the back, I guess I would have found him guility as well, and I'm a gun owner with a conceled carry licsense.